Lifetime of a knife in whole, or of just the pivot and lock, may be significantly different depending on use. So sticking specifically with the action, how many times would an average EDC knife be opened/closed in a years time? In a lifetime?
I would say that I function a lot like duty cycle testing equipment. With minor OCD, I have knives that have been opened and closed many thousands of times. My PM2 is probably in the range of 4000-5000 currently. And with this knife, it's tuned to flick open fast, so my openings are all fast and hard. As of now, I have absolutely no blade play, and lock is rock solid.
I think the compression lock is often inaccurately described. I often hear, it's just and upside down or inverse liner lock. But it's not just a lock face against a blade face. I see it more as a combination of a liner lock and a bolt lock. The liner has a tab that interlocks with the blade.
So long story longer, most quality modern knives will not wear out in a lifetime. So everyone do your part and keep buying. We don't want terminal lifespan deficiencies to be built into the products we enjoy, just to force new purchases/replacements/upgrades. [emoji41][emoji56]
Lately I've also been handling my Chaparral that has been carried a lot lately. I cannot tweak for any form of flicking to open, but it is very smooth along the perfect ark. But now, after a ton of "break in", the blade finally falls 90 degrees on close with a full lock depress, and a slight downward wrist flip. So even the little Chap is approaching 2k at this time. And it's not even a flipper or flicker. [emoji41]
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